


Lose Me to Love You

by IamR



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Additional Characters, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Teachers, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Messy, No Plot/Plotless, chaotic - Freeform, henelope - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 20:40:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29863755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IamR/pseuds/IamR
Summary: Hope and Penelope hooked up. It was supposed to be a one-time-thing until they meet again at a bar. Suddenly they can't stop thinking about each other, but Hope is in a long-term relationship with Landon and Penelope is not used to catch feelings for someone in general. Breaking up with Landon seems to be the easiest way out of their messy situation, but Josie is in the picture as well...
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson & Penelope Park, Hope Mikaelson/Penelope Park, Lizzie Saltzman/Rafael Waithe, Penelope Park & Josie Saltzman, Penelope Park/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 23
Kudos: 52





	1. #1 - Bar

**Author's Note:**

> Hello again my dears!
> 
> As some of you know, depending on if you've read my other fic, I really love the idea of Hope and Penelope being a thing, so I've been working on something over the last couple of weeks. It's still short and in progress, and there is no real plot yet (maybe there won't be a proper one at all), but sometimes a woman simply has to write down her thoughts. So, it's a little bit messy and chaotic.  
> I hope you like it though and give it a try. :D
> 
> Maybe I'll add a few tags later, depending on how this thing turns out.

“LIZZIE”, Hope yells up the stairs while she puts on her jacket. Josie kneels on one leg, putting on her shoes. 

“JUST ONE MORE SECOND”, Lizzie yells back. Hope exhales, she looks at Josie, rolling her eyes and the brunette just shrugs her shoulders. They have to wait for Lizzie, there is nothing new about that, but it’s still annoying. Hope groans when the blonde finally walks down the stairs, “are you ready, girls?”, she asks, slowly walking past them, opening the front door.

“Have been for the past twenty minutes”, Hope sings before she again rolls her eyes. She walks past Lizzie, who is still holding the door open for her sisters. The blonde holds her hands up in defence, “beauty takes time. You should try it from time to time.”

Hope turns around, giving her a scolding look before she playfully punches the other girl’s arm, “shut up”, she mumbles, a smile on her lips. Lizzie returns the smile, theatrically rubbing her arm where Hope had punched her.

“So, where are we going?”, Josie asks as soon as they step outside the building. Lizzie wears a mischievous smile on her lips, wiggling her brows, “to a new bar, the barkeeper is”, she brings her thumb and index finger to her lips, “hot.”

Hope and Josie share an amused look, while Lizzie walks in front of them, determined to reach the bar as fast as possible.

The bar’s interior design is an adaptation of art nouveau, consisting of mainly brownish and blue elements, here and there a few golden or white highlights. The music is loud but not too loud to understand each other’s words. The light is dimmed, not too dark, not too bright, pleasant for the eyes actually.

The girls walk across the bar, heading for three bar stools right in front of them. “Okay, which one is your barkeeper?”, Hope asks, and Lizzie immediately starts scanning the room, looking for the man. It takes her nearly two minutes but then she almost yells, “there he is”, pointing at one of the barkeepers. The boy turns his head, looking at the girls, shooting them a cheeky smile. When he’s done handing out the drinks to the girls in front of him, he walks over to them.

“How are you, Lizzie?”, he asks, a smug smile covering his lips. He exactly knows the effect he has on the blonde, who is quiet for the first time since they had left their apartment. Hope tries to hide her grin when the man turns to her, holding out his hand, “hi, I’m Raf. You must be Hope,” he also holds his hand out for Josie, “and you must be Josie.”

“He’s cute”, Hope whispers to Lizzie the moment Raf turns around to mix some drinks for them. Lizzie blushes, her fingers fiddling with a flyer about an open mic night happening at the bar in the upcoming days.

“I know”, she whispers back.

When he turns back around, he places three drinks in front of them, still wearing a smile, “are you interested?”, he then asks.

All three girls are looking at him, confused expressions on their faces. He nods his head to the flyer in Lizzie’s hand, “the open mic night.”

The blonde immediately lets go of the piece of paper, “yes, indeed”, she says enthusiastically, not even sure why.

Hope hides her giggles behind her fist, which she presses against her mouth, “so, since when do you sing, Lizzie?”, she asks, pretending to be curious about it. The blond glares at her, a thin-lipped false smile on her lips, “well”, she begins, looking back at the man, “I don’t, but Josie does.”

The brunette chokes on her drink, giving her twin a questioning look, while she only has eyes for Raf. But he looks at Josie, “really? Nice. Fingers crossed then that you can keep up with our current champion.”

Before Josie can say something to make sure that she won’t sing, Hope already furrows her brows, “and who is that?”, she asks, this time her curiosity is genuine.

For a second he thinks about telling them the girl’s name, but then he just smiles, “you’ll find out”, his eyes moving to a girl waving, “I have to get back to work, but it was nice meeting you girls.”

As soon as he’s out of earshot, Hope starts laughing. “What the heck, Lizzie?”, Josie angrily asks, and the blonde just shrugs her shoulders, again raising her hands in defeat, “I’m sorry, Jo. But I mean, you really should attend that open mic thing, your voice is amazing.” And she is right, Josie’s voice is amazing, and she really likes singing, but not in front of people she doesn’t know, and her twin should know that by now.

Not wanting to break off an argument, Josie just groans, swallowing her anger, before she empties her drink in one go.

About an hour later Hope feels the alcohol tingling in every inch of her body. Her week was one of the shittiest so far this year. Alaric made her take extra classes with students, that have problems keeping up during the regular lessons. She loves her job but trying to teach maths to kids who weren’t interested in anything else than their social media presence could be annoying, especially when it was about teaching the problematic kids after their regular school hours.

She feels the beat of the music, slowly moving her body to it. The bar is crowded by now, the music much louder than when they had entered. Strangers push their bodies against hers, trying to pass the newly formed dance floor on their way to the restrooms, others are just dancing, occupying more space than they actually need.

Suddenly, she feels someone’s hands on her hips, carefully pushing her a few inches to the left. “I’m sorry”, the owner of the hands yells. She turns around her eyes landing on a girl with raven hair, green eyes. She immediately stops moving, mesmerized by the beauty of the girl, whose hands are still attached to her hips.

The other girl bites her lips, her eyes scanning Hope from head to toe, “hi Hope.” She points to the restroom, “sorry, I’m just trying to make my way over there.”

Hope just nods, not able to form any words. The girl pushes up one corner of her mouth, her smile looking dangerously smug, before she walks past her, disappearing within the crowd of dancing bodies.

“You okay, Hope?”, Josie yells at her, realizing that the auburn-haired girl hasn’t moved for the last five minutes. Hope slowly turns around, “sure, I just”, she stops, not really sure about why she was so starstruck, “this girl.”

Josie furrows her brows, not knowing what Hope is talking about, “what girl?”

But Hope doesn’t know either. She turns around, scanning the room, not sure what or who she’s looking for. It’s way too full of people, too dark to find that girl again.

“Do you remember the last time we went out drinking?”, Hope yells back at Josie. Josie nods.

Hope doesn’t remember all of it, just fragments, but she remembers her. Penelope. She again turns around, her eyes roaming around the room, “that was her.”

“You mean the girl you hooked up with?”, Josie tries to keep up with Hope’s rambling.

“Yes.”

Another hour later she needs something to drink. Making her way across the room, pushing past dancing bodies, kissing couples, or people who just want to make out, she reaches the bar, looking for Raf or anyone else of the barkeepers. She patiently waits, when Raf sees her, finishing up the drinks for the group of people at the other end of the bar. He almost runs over to her, a wide smile on his lips, ready to take her order, when a raspy voice behind Hope yells, “two whiskey sour, please.”

Hope turns around, an annoyed expression on her face. In front of her stands the girl from before, raven hair, green eyes, smug smile. She takes the two glasses from the bar, handing one to Hope, “hi again”, she says, and Hope is taken aback. However, she takes the glass, sipping on the liquid within it.

“Cheers”, the girl says, holding up her glass. Hope connects her glass to Penelope’s, “cheers”, she simply replies.

Penelope bites her lip, “nice to see you”, she truthfully says. Hope takes another sip of her glass, “how did you know that I would like this?”, her eyes darting to her drink.

Penelope laughs, “I don’t know, you seem to be a bourbon girl”, she licks her lips.

“And what is that?”, Hope tries to avoid the flirting tone in girl’s voice.

“Do you want to dance?”, Penelope simply responds. That stupid smug face she makes, knowing exactly how to get what she wants. Hope doesn’t say anything. She takes Penelope’s stretched out hand, tightening the grip around her glass, letting herself be pulled on the dancefloor.

Penelope’s movements are mesmerizing, she moves her body like she knows what she’s doing. She empties her drink, placing the glass on one of the tables, before her hands move to Hopes hips, pulling her closer.

Hope never really was the dancing type of girl, she never really liked big crowds, many of people, parties, socialising in general, but with Penelope it feels different.

She lets the girl control the movements of her body, not knowing what to do with her hands, she places them on Penelope’s shoulders. The other girl smiles at her, taking her left hand in her own, spinning her around, before she pulls Hope even closer. She again bites her lips, pushing a loose strand of hair behind Hope’s ear.

She feels dizzy, memories from the first time she and Penelope have met coming back into her mind. How Penelope had pushed her against the door of the bathroom stall, how she couldn’t wait for her to undo her jeans. Her lips, covering the skin of her jaw, her neck, her collarbone. The way, Penelope knew how to work her hands to make Hope feel things, she had never felt before.

“I – uhm”, Hope brings a few more inches between their bodies, she is out of words, too distracted by Penelope’s constant lip biting, her roaming eyes, “I need a drink, you want something?”

Penelope smiles at her, “whatever you’re getting”, she says, releasing Hope from her touch.

When Hope is on her way to the bar, she exhales. Maybe she should go outside, catch some fresh air. Instead, she again waits patiently until Raf notices her, when she feels a hand on her shoulder, “Hope, where the hell were you?”

Lizzie. Hope sighs, “dancing”, is all she can reply.

“Yeah, I saw that. Who’s the girl you’re with?”

Hope bites her lip, her eyes immediately darting at Penelope, who is still dancing, but now on her own, “the girl I hooked up with two weeks ago”, she says, not able to take her eyes off the girl.

Lizzie nods, her eyes also directed at the girl, “I see”, she furrows her eyes, “you’re playing with fire, Hope.”

“I know”, Hope whispers, inaudible for anyone else.

A few minutes later she is on her way back to Penelope, holding two glasses in her hand, careful not to spill any of the alcohol from them.

“Here you go”, she hands one glass to the raven-haired girl. Penelope immediately takes a sip of the cold liquid, “thanks, beautiful”, she says. Hope bites her lips, starting to move her body to the beat of the music again. Penelope’s free hand immediately finds its way back on her hips, pulling her mere inches closer.

Their foreheads touch, and Hope doesn’t know why but suddenly she feels the urge to kiss the girl in front of her. But she doesn’t. That’s not how she is. At least not today.

It feels like the world is moving slower suddenly, she just concentrates on Penelope’s touch, on her smell, on the way she gets closer and closer, how she can suddenly feel her underneath her skin. Penelope’s hand moves a little lower, caressing the small of her back, causing Hope to catch her breath, before her breathing gets a little heavier.

Penelope’s eyes constantly move between blue eyes and full lips, she again finishes her glass in one go, her eyes indicating Hope to do the same, before the raven-haired girl pulls her across the dancefloor in the direction of the restrooms.

The queue is not that long, but still there is one, so they wait. Their shoulders touch and Penelope’s fingers carefully stroke Hope’s. Finally, they can enter one of the stalls. Penelope gently pushes Hope against the closed door, “can I?” she says, Hope feeling her breath on her lips. She nods, not able to speak. Again. And Penelope connects their lips. They feel soft, softer than any lips, she had ever kissed before.

Penelope’s hands are framing her face, pulling her closer, while she pushes her body against Hopes. Her right hand moves down a little, she starts planting kisses on Hope’s jaw line, her neck, her collarbone. She pulls up her shirt, her hands finding their way to the button of Hope’s jeans.

When she undoes them, Hope releases a sigh of relieve. This is what she needs. And Penelope gives her that smug smirk again. Sexy, but annoying. Hope feels the need to kiss it off her lips, smashing hers against Penelope’s.

“What do you want?”, Penelope asks between kisses.

Hope is taken aback, but only for a second. She doesn’t have to think about it for a second. _Fuck me_ , she wants to say, but “we need to stop”, is what she actually says. Penelope brings more space between them, looking at her, confusion written all over her face, “what?”

Hope starts to button her jeans again, not ready to look at Penelope, knowing that she immediately would regret her decision to stop here. When she lifts her gaze only for a second, she knows why. Penelope is giving her a disappointed look, almost looking sad, her lips are still red from the pressure of Hope’s mouth on them. She clears her throat, “I’m sorry”, she whispers before she opens the stall door, pushing herself through it and leaving a confused raven-haired girl behind.

When Hope returns to the twins, they’re already waiting for her.

“Finally,”, Lizzie lets out, “ready to go home?”

Hope nods. The twins give her a curious look, “was it good?”, the blonde nonchalantly blurts out.

Hope’s hand slightly strokes her own neck, “nothing happened.” 

“So, you’re telling me, that you met the girl you’ve hooked up with two weeks ago and nothing happened?”, Lizzie lets herself fall into one of the armchairs within their living room.

Hope sits down next to her, releasing a deep breath, “yes, Lizzie, I’ve told you about a hundred times now.”

“Okay, but why?”, the blonde wants to know.

Josie sits down opposite to them. Her expression is curious, but she already knows what Hope is about to say next.

“Because I have a boyfriend, if you remember”, she sounds annoyed. Josie nods her head, approving with Hope’s explanation while her twin rolls her eyes, “you’re right. I forgot.”

Hope glances at her. Lizzie never really liked Landon. According to her, he was not good enough for her, he was too boring for her, too average. And honestly, Hope could see where Lizzie is coming from. Landon is boring, and maybe average, but he would never hurt her, he would always make sure that she was okay, that she was happy. Except she isn’t. Not really.

So far, it never had bothered Hope, she never had thought about anyone else but Landon. Then she met Penelope, and even though it was just a one-time thing, she couldn’t stop thinking about it, about her. How Penelope had made her feel, how good her hands had felt on her body, how good her kisses had felt.

Hope shakes her head, trying to get rid of those thoughts, trying to call back the guilt she should feel instead. She exhales, “I know, I should feel guilty about her, but somehow I don’t.”

Her expression is desperate, quietly asking for someone to justify her, to tell her that it is okay to cheat on a long-term boyfriend. Josie’s eyes meet hers, she is not the right person to do it, but Lizzie is. So, Hope again eyes the blonde, silently asking for help. Lizzie shrugs her shoulders, “just break up with him.”

But is it really that easy? Her eyes dart back to Josie, who, to her surprise, nods her head, “I think you should break up with him if you don’t feel guilty about cheating. No one deserves to be cheated on.”

Hope immediately feels like she needs to squeeze Josie’s cheeks, due to the innocent look she gives her while saying the only logical thing, “you’re right”, she agrees, “I need to talk to him when he comes back. But for now, can we please just forget about today and about what happened two weeks ago?”


	2. #2 - Annoying

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys like it :)

“I still can’t believe that she convinced you to sing tonight”, Hope says, rummaging through her closet. Josie is concentrated on doing her make up, “me neither”, she mumbles against her hand.

“I mean”, Hope starts, before the upper part of her body disappears into the closet, “Raf is cute and all, but they barely even talked last week.”

Josie stops working on her right eye, giving Hope a questioning look, “they actually did a lot of talking. You probably were just too busy to notice.”

Hope also stops what she’s doing, she eyes the brunette, “whatever”, she groans, knowing that she is probably right. Her thoughts immediately shoot back to the night, to her dancing with Penelope, the taste of her kisses, the feeling they left on her skin. A shiver runs down her spine as she tries to shake it off.

“Have you talked to Landon yet?”

Landon. Her boyfriend. She slowly shakes her head, “no, not yet. I want to wait until he comes back.”

She is still not sure if she really wants to break up with him, but if she does, she doesn’t want to do it over the phone or a text, she wants to look into his eyes when she has to break his heart after all, and the other way around. He should be able to see how sorry she is, how bad she feels about it.

Josie nods. She turns around, bringing her attention back to her make up.

“How did Lizzie meet Raf?”, Hope tries to change the subject to something keeping her mind off of green eyes and dark hair, not knowing if it’s her boyfriend’s or Penelope’s she’s thinking about.

“She met him when he dropped off his little brother at school”, the brunette explains.

She is sure that Lizzie had already told her all about it, but she can’t remember.

“Hm”, she replies, pulling up her bottom lip.

Suddenly the door to her room flies open and Lizzie steps in. She lets herself fall onto Hope’s bed, her hand softly caressing the bedcover, “are you exited, Jo?”

Her voice is loud, she is almost screaming at her sister. Hope expects Josie to roll her eyes, to release an exhausted breath, but the brunette just shrugs her shoulders, “actually yes”, she honestly answers. Lizzie smiles at her and she nods. A simple gesture, but Hope sees how proud Lizzie is, how she wants to scream that Josie will blow all these strangers away. A grin creeps up on her lips. The blonde suspiciously eyes her, “what are you grinning at?”

She clears her throat, her expression is cheeky, “are _you_ exited?”

Lizzie is not the type of girl who blushes easily, and it’s not easy to read her, but Hope knows her well enough. The blonde cockily lifts one brow, but she can’t hide the nervous fidgeting of her hands, “sure”, she confidently says.

After another fifteen minutes they’re finally ready to leave the apartment. Lizzie almost runs down the street, again trying to reach the bar as fast as possible. Josie is getting more nervous with each step closer to their destination. Her hands start sweating, she constantly needs to rub them dry on her jeans. Hope places her hand on Josie’s arm, knowing that the touch will calm her nerves, “you’ll be amazing”, she says.

Josie’s smile is shy, but genuine, “thanks”, she mumbles. She takes in a deep breath before she steps into the bar, and Hope does the same. She feels nervous as well, but how big are the chances to meet Penelope a third time? Not sure if she is nervous because she wants to meet her or because she doesn’t, she lets her eyes roam around the room.

It’s already crowded, people are waiting in front of the stage for the first person to sing, and the music is playing loud.

When Lizzie sees Raf working at the bar, she grabs her sister’s hands, dragging them behind her. They occupy three stools, waiting for him to come over, but one of the other barkeepers is faster. He asks them what they want to drink, and while Lizzie is busy drooling over Raf, Hope orders them three drinks.

It doesn’t take Raf long to walk over to them, an impish grin plastered across his lips, “ladies, you made it.” The other barkeeper comes back, placing three glasses in front of them, “there you go, girls”, he says. When he notices the way Raf and Lizzie are looking at each other, he rises both his brows, “so, you must be Lizzie”, his words directed at the blonde.

She gives him a questioning look, and he starts smiling, “well, our boy Raf here”, he places his hand on Raf’s shoulder, “can’t stop talking about you.”

Lizzie would blush now if she was the blushing type, Hope thinks, and before he can say anything else embarrassing, Raf introduces his friend to them, “this is Jed”, then he points at the three girls, “Lizzie, Hope, and Josie.”

Jed gives them a short nod, “nice to meet you”, he grins, “are you here to sing?”

“Hope?”, a female voice interrupts them, before anyone can answer Jed’s question. Hope turns around. Penelope. Her sisters also turn around, both wearing confused looks on their faces.

“Hi”, Hope whispers. Envying Lizzie for her ability not to blush in such moments.

Penelope moves a little closer, pushing her body between Hope and Lizzie. “Rude”, Lizzie mumbles, her face full of annoyance, while Hope stops breathing, Penelope’s face dangerously close to hers. _What is she doing?_ , Hope thinks and just when her eyes move to Penelope’s lips, the raven-haired girl grabs the bottle of beer Jed is holding out for her. She immediately brings more space between them, moving back into her prior position.

She brings the bottle to her lips, taking a sip, “thanks, Jed”, she then says, smiling at him, while he returns it, followed by a nod.

“So, Hope, aren’t you going to introduce me?”, Penelope asks, and the cocky grin is annoying somehow while at the same time it’s hot.

The blue eyed girl clears her throat, she shakes her head as if she needs to get her thoughts back on track, her eyes finally disconnecting from the other girl’s lips, “uhm –“, she nervously scratches her neck, “sure. Lizzie, Josie, my sisters. Penelope…”, she stumbles upon her own words, not sure as _what_ she is supposed to introduce Penelope.

While Lizzie suspiciously narrows her eyes, knowing exactly who the girl in front of her is, Josie shyly eyes her from head to toe, her lips slightly parted. Hope knows the look on her face. Not just because she is looking at Penelope the same way, but because she knows Josie. Josie was never good in hiding her thoughts and her facial expressions were always kind of giving them away in addition. And even though she doesn’t know anything about Penelope she knows that this look on her sister’s face is the first step into an emotional mess.

Penelope casually lifts her hand, “nice to meet you”, Lizzie nods, Josie is still amazed by the girl, not able to say anything, “so, are you here to sing or to see me?”, the raven-haired girl asks. Her cocky expression is almost seductive, how she raises one brow, pushes up one corner of her mouth into a smug smile, the way she then wets her lips, before her teeth carefully stroke over her bottom lip.

Hope can’t stop herself from biting her own lip, her eyes taking in even the smallest movement of Penelope. Once again, it feels like the world is slowing down, as if everything else becomes less important to a certain degree. Until Lizzie clears her throat, an expectant look on her face.

“Actually, I am here to see Josie sing”, Hope exhales. She waits for Penelope to react, watching her with alert eyes, hoping to get a glimpse of who the girl really is, but Penelope is even harder to read than Lizzie. So, her thoughts remain a secret, the world starts moving again and Penelope’s gaze moves to the brunette. A friendly, warm smile replaces the smug one from before, “well, good luck, Josie.”

Josie blushes, mumbling another “thanks” before Penelope turns back to Jed, he nods, and hands her two more bottles of beer.

“I see you around”, she says. When her eyes meet Hope’s she winks, turning around without any other word, disappearing withing the crowd of people.

They remain silent for a few minutes. “Wow”, Lizzie and Josie say in unison, breaking the silence, but while for Josie this is all she needs to say, Lizzie continues, “she’s full of herself.” When nobody answers she turns around, looking into four faces, expecting them to agree with her. Lizzie narrows her brows, somehow this girl managed to cast a spell on both her sisters, without even trying.

Jed is the first one to answer, “well, my cousin is just self-confident, that’s all.”

“Your cousin?”, Hope looks at him.

“Yes”, he smiles, “how do you know her?”

She nervously exhales, and he already knows the answer to his question. Their eyes meet and he silently tells her that she doesn’t have to answer, that he knows, and she thanks him with a short smile.

“They fucked”, Lizzie bluntly says, taking a sip of her drink. Josie chokes on hers, Hope shoots the blonde a scolding look before she hits her own forehead with her palm, and Jed just clears his throat, “well, I have to get back to work”, he explains with his eyes wide open, turning around, leaving them. 

“Seriously?”, Hope’s fist meets Lizzie’s shoulder.

“What? It’s true”, the blonde starts rubbing her arm. They angrily look at each other and Josie just rolls her eyes. Telling them to stop would be a waste of breath. The brunette is used to their constant fighting, the bickering they would have over the smallest of things. She sighs, throwing an apologetic glance at Raf, who is uncomfortably smiling.

“Sorry”, she forms with her lips without actually saying it, moving her index finger between her sisters. Raf just shrugs his shoulders, addressing himself back to mixing drinks.

A few minutes later the music stops, and a small man walks onto the stage. He talks about the open mic night and how happy he is to see so many people attending, and Josie immediately feels nervous again. She starts rubbing her palms against her thighs.

The first few performances are good, and the crowd goes wild even for those performances which aren’t _that_ good. Hope turns her head over her shoulder, looking at the brunette, giving her a reassuring smile.

The man takes the mic, announcing the next performance. Penelope Park.

When she walks onto the stage, her fingers carefully caressing the mic in front of her, Hope and Josie straighten up on their stools. Penelope’s voice is soft and raspy, delicate in some parts of the song she chose to sing, powerful in others. 

Hope’s lips are slightly parted as she watches the raven-haired girl finishing her performance. Lizzie groans, when Penelope is done and the crowd goes wild, “okay, I have to admit that she’s … good. But not the best.” The blue-eyed girl rolls her eyes, but Lizzie is right. Penelope is really good.

“The next song will be performed by someone who hasn’t sung on this stage so far, please give a warm welcome to Josie Saltzman”, the small man announces into the mic from the side of the stage.

Josie takes in a deep breath. She slowly walks towards the stage. She loves singing and she knows that she’s good at it, but she never liked being noticed by large crowds of people, whether it was her speaking, singing or anything else in front of them.

She reaches the mic, letting her gaze roam around the room. There are Lizzie and Hope, both smiling at her. She can do it. She just needs one more second to calm herself down. She closes her eyes, takes in another deep breath when she suddenly hears someone saying her name from in front of the stage.

Penelope is smiling at her, “don’t think about all those people. Just look at your sisters, as if you’re singing for them.”

Another deep breath in and then she’s ready. Following Penelope’s advice, she just looks at her sisters. At least, until she feels comfortable enough to let her gaze roam around the room while she sings her heart out.

“She is amazing”, Penelope says, suddenly appearing next to Hope. She turns around, startled by the proximity of the other girl, only mere inches between them.

“What did you say to her?”, Hope asks, quickly turning her head back to the stage. Eager to bring more space between her and Penelope, she takes a step aside. And either Penelope doesn’t notice what Hope tries to do, or she simply doesn’t care, but she moves closer to her again, “I just told her that she’ll do great.”

“So were you”, Hope whispers. She can feel Penelope’s hand touching hers, and her eyes immediately are darting down to them. Penelope doesn’t seem to notice the touch, and if she does, she’s really good at ignoring it.

“Thanks”, she yells back, so apparently what was supposed to be a whisper hadn’t been quiet enough.

She dares to turn her head back again and her eyes lock with green ones. A million thoughts come crashing down in her brain. _Why does she have this strange effect on her? Why does she feel the urge to kiss those full lips? Why does she have to smell so good?_ “Why is she so damn beautiful?”, Hope again whispers, lost in her train of thoughts, not understanding why Penelope makes her feel the way she does, trying to ignore the need to gently push a strand of raven hair behind the girl’s ear just to touch her soft skin. 

When she notices the smug smile forming on Penelope’s lips, she knows that her whisper once again hadn’t been quiet enough. She closes her eyes, disconnecting them from the green she could get lost in so easily, before she releases a shaky breath.

The small man climbs back onto the stage, announcing that Josie’s was the last performance before a 30-minute break. The regular music starts playing again.

Hope can still feel Penelope’s hand against hers and green eyes piercing her skin.

Lizzie clears her throat, her eyes narrowed, directed at the touching hands. She forces herself to wear a fake smile across her lips, “by the way”, she begins, and Hope jumps at the sound of her voice, “how’s Landon doing?”

Hope quickly pulls away her hand from Penelope’s. Crossing her arms in front of her chest. She can feel a slight redness creeping up its way onto her cheeks, her gaze lowered to her feet.

“Who is Landon?”, Penelope asks, curiosity written all over her face.

Hope bites her lips, “Landon is my”, she squints her eyes shut, “boyfriend.” The last word almost doesn’t reach Penelope’s ears. The auburn-haired girl opens her eyes again, just the split of a second earlier and Hope would have noticed the tiniest twitch in Penelope’s smile, but now there is no way to read Penelope anymore.

“Well, I didn’t know that you have a boyfriend”, she honestly says, pulling up her bottom lip, “where is he?”

Her voice sounds genuinely interested.

“He’s an ornithologist”, Hope answers, “he’s researching the breeding behaviour of different bird species in central Europe at the moment.”

Penelope narrows her eyes, her expression still as if she is genuinely interested in Landon, “oh wow, that’s actually pretty cool”, she excitedly says. Lizzie looks at her confused, this is not what she intended by mentioning Hope’s boyfriend.

Hope looks at her with the same amount of confusion in her eyes. “Oh, I’m a biology teacher”, Penelope tries to explain her sudden excitement.

“That was awesome”, Josie yells, feeling every inch of her body filled with adrenaline. When she enters the circle, her sisters and Penelope have formed, she can almost touch the tensed-up atmosphere between them.

“What happened?”

“Penelope is a biology teacher”, Lizzie simply answers, her eyes still fixed on the raven-haired girl.

Josie’s eyes jump back and forth between the three girls, “uhm”, she mumbles, not really sure why Penelope being a biology teacher is a bad thing, “well, that’s nice?”, she hesitantly asks.

The three girls remain silent for a moment, until Penelope claps her hands together, “well, Josie, your performance was awesome. You have a really beautiful voice.”

Josie blushes, and even if she’d try to hide it, it wouldn’t work. A shy “thanks” leaves her lips, her eyes roaming over Penelope, “you were really good as well.”

Penelope casually waves her hand, like she has heard those words a million times before. “how about another drink?”

Hope’s eyes hit her, one brow raised. Penelope is looking at Josie, and just her, but from the corner of her eye she sees Hope’s expression. One side of her mouth twitches, while Josie slightly nods her head.

“Let’s go then”, the raven-haired girl smirks, and a second later she walks off, Josie following her. Lizzie’s gaze follows them, her arms are crossed over her chest, “is she seriously hitting on Jo now?”

Hope just shakes her head. Of course, Penelope is, she had noticed the looks Josie is giving her, but Hope is sure that Penelope was flirting with her the entire evening, so why Josie now? Her eye twitches, she suddenly feels an unknown kind of anger rising within her stomach, the air suddenly feels way too hot, and she starts shifting her weight from one foot onto the other.

Is that what jealousy feels like? And why is she jealous anyway?

She again shakes her head, trying to get rid of the feeling. She follows Lizzie to the bar, and they sit down a few meters away from their sister and Penelope.

Lizzie quickly forgets about her sister and the other girl, distracted by some story Raf and Jed are telling her. Hope tries to listen to them, too, throwing in a smile or a nod from time to time, but her eyes are drawn to Josie and Penelope again and again. She doesn’t want to watch them, but they are like a car accident. She just has to look, even if she really doesn’t want to.

It seems like Penelope is deeply concentrated on whatever Josie is telling her, she laughs, throws back her head, her hand gently touches Josie’s arm, her fingers stroke Josie’s. Hope completely gives up on trying to listen to the boys, her eyes now glued to the other two girls. She observes them, tries to figure out why Josie is talking so much, when she usually is the quiet sister.

She gulps down her drink, she can feel her grip tightening around the glass. Suddenly Penelope’s green eyes meet hers, only for the split of a second, but long enough to make Hope’s stomach flip. Again, one side of Penelope’s mouth twitches, before her eyes move back to the brunette.

Hope puts down her glass, hitting the wooden surface a little too hard. Raf, Jed and Lizzie jump at the noise, throwing confused looks at her. 

“I need some fresh air”, she says, and before Lizzie can answer she’s already on her way outside.

She walks a few steps, the air feels cold on her heated skin. She leans against the wall of the building, taking in a deep breath, closing her eyes. She stands like this for a few moments, before she again takes in a deep breath through her nose. The air suddenly smells different, better. Something she can’t name but it smells all too familiar. Blurry memories are starting to shoot into her mind, and she tries to put a finger on one in particular. She tries to remember the moment she knows this smell from, but she can’t.

She opens her eyes, a groan leaving her mouth, “you’re annoying.”

Penelope is standing way too close. Her expression is unreadable. She’s not smiling, her features are as unfazed as possible. Then she takes a step closer, invading Hope’s personal space without touching her, “and you’re avoiding me.”

“Wha- ?”, Hope scoffs, “I talked to you the entire evening.”

“Not after your sister mentioned your boyfriend”, Penelope innocently shrugs one shoulder.

Hope doesn’t know what to say. Penelope is literally a stranger, she doesn’t know anything about her, but at the same time it feels like she’d known her for ages.

She looks into her eyes, immediately feeling a strange calmness taking over her body, but simultaneously she feels her body heating up again. She needs to concentrate to stop her hand from touching Penelope’s skin, to stop her fingers from stroking her lips. And while she is concentrated on trying not to touch the other girl, she can’t stop her eyes from flickering to the girl’s lips. Penelope sees it and slowly moves mere inches closer.

Hope can feel Penelope’s breath against her lips, holding her own breath, her chest moving up and down a little faster. _She is too close. Way too close_ , she thinks.

She presses her back harder against the wall behind her, feeling the heat of Penelope’s body against hers. The raven-haired girl places her left hand next to Hope’s head. She bites down her bottom lip and for the first time today Hope can read her expression. It’s written all over her face. Penelope wants her. She wants to kiss her, to touch her, to push her even harder against the wall. And while Penelope is sure that Hope wants her to do all those things, too, she hesitates.

She takes in a deep breath in, her lips are only a few inches away from Hope’s.

“Do you want me to stop?”, she whispers, her lips softly brushing over Hope’s due to the movements of her mouth.

“I -“, Hope again feels her stomach flipping. A beat passes. She doesn’t.

The second Hope breathes out a “no”, Penelope’s lips are pressed against hers. The kiss starts slow, gentle, careful. Like something they had been waiting for their whole lives.

Hope can feel Penelope pushing her body impossibly close against hers. Her right hand pushing her hip closer into the wall, before she moves it upwards, touching bare skin here and there. She grabs Hope’s chin, pressing her lips harder against hers, and Hope immediately deepens the kiss.

She pulls Penelope closer by her hips, her fingers digging into the soft skin underneath the fabric of her shirt. The raven-haired girl starts kissing her jaw, her neck, the spot beneath her ear, and a soft moan escapes Hope.

“Let’s get out of here”, Penelope says, disconnection their lips, trying to catch her breath. Before Hope can protest, she grabs her hand, dragging her down the street. They walk only for two minutes, when Penelope pulls out a key from her pocket. She unlocks the door of an apartment building, holding it open for Hope to enter.

She’s still out of breath when they reach the top of the staircase, Penelope unlocking another door.

Hope enters a large apartment, but before she can observe the room she’s standing in, she feels Penelope’s lips pressed against her neck. She turns around, her hands framing the other girl’s face, while Penelope wraps her arms around Hope’s waist, pulling her closer.

Penelope walks them into a bedroom, impatiently pulling at the hem of Hope’s shirt.

So, she takes it off. 

The raven-haired girl holds out her hand, Hope takes it, and Penelope leads her to the bed. Gently pushing her onto it, straddling her. She kisses her lips, softly bites into Hope’s bottom lip before her lips move down her jaw, her neck, her collarbone. While her fingers are fiddling with the button of Hope’s jeans.

A soft moan escapes her lips, and it’s like Penelope was just waiting for it. She lifts her head, looking at Hope.

“God, you’re so beautiful”, she breathes, before she kisses her again. Her fingers finally done with undoing the button. But then Hope grabs her hand, Penelope stops kissing her. Again, she lifts her head, “do you want me to stop?”

Hope’s breathing is heavy, while Penelope is still straddling her. She takes a moment to look at her. Her raven hair perfectly frames her face, her eyes are dangerously dark, her chest is also heaving heavily. Hope shakes her head. She can’t say it, but she doesn’t want her to stop. She wants to feel her, to taste her, to be one with her.

Penelope hesitantly chews on her lip, still looking at Hope. A few seconds pass.

She then starts moving, and Hope watches her carefully as she stands up to walk a few steps away from the bed. She starts taking off her shirt, her jeans, her bra, her slip.

Hope gulps. Taking in every inch of Penelope’s exposed skin, absentmindedly wetting her lips. The last time they’d hooked up was in a dim-lighted stall in a restroom of a shitty bar. It was something Hope had never done before, and of course it was hot and overwhelming. But this here and now is different. She wants to see Penelope’s body, to take in every inch of it. And she wants Penelope to see hers.

She sits up, trying to reach Penelope’s hand and when she finally does, she pulls her closer. She plants soft kisses on her stomach, “I want you”, she breathes between them. And suddenly it’s like something clicks in Penelope. She pushes Hope back onto the bed, roughly. Her fingers roam over Hope’s body. Gently, like feathers, like she’s trying to trace each and every bone beneath her skin. She pushes her hands slowly up Hope’s back, causing her to shiver, before she opens the clasp of her bra.

She leaves gentle kisses on the newly exposed skin as she slowly pushes down the last bits of fabric covering Hope’s body. Her kisses feel light and so soft, and a quiet moan escapes Hope’s lips. She watches every single one of Penelope’s movements with attentive eyes. The way her hands are firmly gripping her waist, how she slowly kisses down Hope’s thighs and the moments when she looks up for only the split of a second to make sure that it’s okay, that Hope is okay with it, make it feel like her body is on fire. She lays her head back, feeling her stomach tense up, but it is not in a bad way, it’s just because she suddenly feels so much. And Penelope is so dangerously close to where Hope wants her. Her breath feels so warm and her hands slowly start moving. And Hope wants her so bad. So so bad. She lays down again, her hands pushed into her own hair, she releases a breath, and she concentrates on what Penelope is doing to her. There is no Landon, no guilt. Nothing. Just her and Penelope in the same room. And it feels so good. When Penelope’s fingers carefully touch her for the first time, not just anywhere but where she… needs her. She sees the smug smirk on the girl’s face, knowing that her body gives everything away. How easy it is for her to make her feel all those things. And there is this lip bite again, a slight scrunch of her nose and Hope can’t hold it back any longer. She stares deeply into those green eyes, “Penelope”, she pushes out, and even though Penelope hasn’t really done anything by now, Hope is on the edge, “please”, she simply says. 

And Penelope isn’t someone to refuse a girl’s wishes. So, she teasingly slow pushes two fingers into Hope’s welcoming wetness. And Hope can’t help herself but push her head deeper into the pillows. This time her moan is much louder than before, she arches her back a little bit and Penelope enjoys the effect her movements have on the girl beneath her. She increases the pace of her thrusting fingers, while her lips make their way up from Hope’s stomach to her neck. She feels Penelope’s teeth softly dig into her skin, her tongue from time to time when it’s exploring the bare skin. She moans again, her hands now tangled in Penelope’s thick locks. “Fuck”, she whimpers.

It doesn’t take long for Hope to figure out how to get what she wants. Her moans are louder, and her body moves a little more against Penelope’s hands, because she needs Penelope to move her fingers faster, while she gently pushes her head down. And even though they seem to speak the same language here, Penelope is still a tease. She stops moving her fingers, smirking down at Hope, and Hope narrows her eyes in response. A beat passes and Hope knows that Penelope wants her to voice her needs.

“Say it”, the girl orders her, and somehow Hope doesn’t mind. Because it feels good, and because it seems so simple to get what she wants… _needs_ now. But Penelope is so cocky and full of herself, that Hope simply smiles back at her, one brow challengingly raised.

“Tell me what you want”, Penelope seems unimpressed by Hope’s expression. And Hope gives in. Penelope’s skin on hers feels too good, “fuck me”, she breathes out and before she even finishes the second word, Penelope’s mouth already finds its way to the bundle of nerves between Hope’s already spread legs. And she feels so good. Hope’s entire body is working now, every muscle is tensing. She grabs the sheets next to Penelope’s head, digging her fingers deep into them, pulling and pushing. Her body aches and she feels how close she is.

Penelope can feel Hope’s clenching walls around her fingers, and a second before Hope steps over the edge, she inserts a third finger. Her thrusts are deep now and it’s all she needs. Hope aches her back a little more, she buries one hand in Penelope’s hair, pushing her only a little bit closer and then she feels it. It’s like waking up from a long sleep, like breathing fresh air for the first time after almost drowning, like the first sunbeams after a thousand years of darkness, and so much more. 

Penelope lets her finish, before she slowly lets herself sink into the sheets next to her. She smiles but this time there is no smugness or teasing. She is just smiling at her. Hope is still breathing heavily but somehow, she feels safe, and tired. She closes her eyes, knowing that it’s okay, that she can trust Penelope.

They don’t talk after it and Hope still needs time to normalize her breathing. But the green of Penelope’s eyes is so intense, and she can’t stop looking at it until she falls into a deep sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading <3
> 
> Sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes!


	3. #3 - biology teacher

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back everyone! Thank you for the support, I really appreciate it. :-)
> 
> This is only a short filler, but I hope you'll enjoy it anyway.

“Hope”, Josie’s voice finally reaches her ears. She shakes her head, trying to get rid of the memories of the night one week ago, before she looks back at Josie. She has no idea what they were talking about a minute ago, and she doesn’t really care. However, she doesn’t want to be rude, so she looks at the brunette, a questioning look on her face.

“Dad wants to staff Landon’s position”, Josie is kind enough to repeat what she had told Hope already a few minutes ago. Her eyes are narrowed.

_Landon_ , Hope thinks. Her boyfriend. She again shakes her head, she needs to stop thinking about Penelope’s head between her legs, her soft kisses covering her skin, her fingers, her heavy breathing…

“Hope!”, Josie says again, and this time she sounds annoyed.

“I’m sorry,” Hope answers, “well,”, she doesn’t know what to say. Landon decided to follow his scientific curiosity, and when he had told Hope about his plans, she supported him. Because she never wanted to be that person to stand between someone she loved and their dreams, “Salvatore needs a biology teacher.”

Josie looks at her with a suspicious expression on her face, “are you okay?”, she asks. Hope seemed to be somewhere else with her head the past week.

“I’m fine”, she says, meeting Josie’s eyes for the first time, “I just haven’t worked out the entire week”, it isn’t even a lie. Usually, she’d work out at least twice a week with Alaric. But the week went by too quickly and her thoughts had been all over the place.

“Is this about Penelope?”, josie asks and Hope doesn’t know what to say. The question catches her off guard, because yes, she’s thinking about her the entire time. But she’s still with Landon and she knows how Josie thinks about relationships and people who cheat while being in one. So, she pushes her lips into a thin line, clearing her throat, while she nervously scratches the back of her head, “uhm –“, _come on. Hope, just make something up_ , “I – uhm, no?”

Josie narrows her eyes, “is this a question?”

“Look, Josie”, she tries again, knowing that she screwed up her first chance, “I know what you think, and I promise, I’ll talk to him.” It’s all she can offer Josie as a truthful answer. She wants to talk to Landon. Not particularly about Penelope and the cheating, but about her feelings. That she still loves him, at least she thinks she does, but that she needs a break. Because she isn’t happy anymore, and she doesn’t really remember when she was really happy the last time. And it’s not because of him, it’s her. She just needs… more.

Josie nods, her eyes still narrowed suspiciously, “okay”, she let’s Hope off the hook. Although she knows that Josie isn’t satisfied with her answer, Hope sighs in relief.

“Are you going to see her again?”, maybe she isn’t off the hook quite yet. She rolls her eyes, throwing an annoyed glance across the table. Maybe, if she just holds Josie’s gaze for long enough without answering she’ll let it go eventually. She mimics Josie’s narrowed eyes, her frown, but her mind is already working on an answer. Because she _wants_ to see Penelope again. And not only see her, but touch her, feel her, taste her… _Hope, focus!_ She feels her face heating up and so does Josie probably. Her cheeks are burning, and the grin on the brunette’s face gives her away. She’s blushing. Not because it’s so embarrassing that she wants to see her again, she could easily admit that, but because of the memories the sound of Penelope’s name carries. She slightly shakes her head, “I don’t think so”, and again she’s not lying.

She had left Penelope’s apartment early in the morning, hastily collecting her cloths from the floor, throwing them on while she had tried to be as quiet as possible. The thought of leaving a note with her number on it came when she was almost at home and for a second, she stopped in her tracks, thinking about going back, but she decided against it. Maybe this was for the best, maybe giving Penelope her number would’ve made things even more complicated than they already were.

“God, I could really use a good workout now”, Hope jumps off her chair, barely noticing the confused look Josie is throwing at her and without another word she leaves the room.

When she reaches Alaric’s office, she doesn’t knock. Too caught up in her thoughts, she opens the door without realizing that he isn’t alone. Alaric shoots her a confused look, his hands still in the air because he stopped mid-explaining something. But Hope’s back is turned to him, while she studies the photos on the shelf for the thousandth time. She always does it when she’s in his office. They look so much younger in them and it’s strange, how Josie always stands a little bit behind Lizzie, she wonders every time she looks at those photos. Lizzie is… special, she needs a lot of attention and she can be a pain in the ass. Josie is so… different. She’s the kindest person, Hope had ever met. She is so considerate of everyone else’s feelings that she sometimes seems to forget about her own. Still, she loves both of them so much that she can’t put it into words.

When Alaric loudly clears his throat, she turns around. Her eyes jump between him and the other person sitting in front of his desk, and Hope’s cheeks suddenly feel hot, she can basically feel the redness creeping up on them.

“Hope, that’s Penelope Park, she’s the new biology teacher”, Alaric introduces the raven-haired woman. He’s awkwardly smiling at her and Hope knows that it’s because he didn’t tell her that he wanted to staff Landon’s position. There is this apologetic look on his face, Hope knows all too well. Usually, this look is reserved for the twins, when he needs to reschedule plans with them because the school is more important, basically anything else that possibly could come up for that matter. And Hope remembers all too well that she had often been the reason for him to give them this particular look when they were younger. And even though the twins had never really blamed her for spending so much more time with their dad she still felt guilty whenever she saw this expression on him. Because it made her feel as if she had done something wrong.

“Hi”, Hope nervously gulps, while Penelope is all chilled. She smiles at her, one brow raised.

“Penelope, this is Hope Mikaelson”, Alaric takes over and introduces her, still awkwardly smiling. When Penelope rises from her chair, Hope’s breath hitches for a second, her hands nervously fidgeting with the hem of her blouse. And for a second there she thinks that Penelope will come closer and closer, she imagines how she pushes her against the office door, pins down her hands above her head, and how her lips leave gentle kisses on her jaw line. _What the hell is wrong with you?_ She gulps again, trying to push down the heat rising from her stomach.

“Nice to meet you, Hope Mikaelson”, she winks at her. Hope doesn’t know what to say. Should she even say something? So, she just stares, slowly lifting her hand for Penelope to take it. Penelope takes it, and her skin feels so soft, her grip is firm and warm, and Hope is instantly reminded of where those fingers had been only a week ago. Her eyes are fixed on their touching hands, she feels her mouth go dry. She swears that from the corner of her eyes she sees Penelope licking her lips, and she immediately pulls away her hand. Maybe a little rougher than necessary before she stares back into her green eyes.

“Maths”, she blurts out, not knowing why. But it is the only word she can think of.

A questioning look on Penelope’s face brings her thoughts back on track. Her eyes quickly jump to Alaric, who also has one eyebrow raised, questioningly shrugging his shoulders, before he expectantly shakes his head.

“Oh – uhm – I teach maths. I’m a maths teacher”, Hope elaborates. 

She sees Alaric pinching the bridge of his nose, while Penelope narrows her eyes. It’s silent for a moment and she pulls up her bottom lip, her brows raised, “well…”

Alaric interrupts her, “I asked Josie to show Penelope around, but since you’re already here, would you mind?”

Glad that Alaric cuts through the awkwardness she nods, “sure”, and shortly after that they exit his office.

It’s a quiet walk through the main building of the school and Hope only speaks when she has to. She leads Penelope to the classrooms, the library, the dormitories, the greenhouses, and the gym. Penelope asks a handful of questions, and Hope doesn’t know if it’s because she is really interested in the places Hope shows her, or just to interrupt the silence between them.

When they reach the common room, Hope stops, “so…”

She watches Penelope turn around, letting her eyes roam the room as she takes everything in.

“That’s it”, she hesitantly says. The silence between them weighing heavy on her shoulders, which is weird since she usually enjoys the silence. But with Penelope it’s different. It feels weird and unsettling, not because she suddenly likes to mingle with strangers, but because there is something about Penelope that makes her curious. It’s something about the way she curls her lips into a mischievous smile from time to time, how her eyes stay a little longer on some things and seem to easily ignore other things. It’s the way she walks so close to Hope without actually touching her, and the way this exact thing makes Hope feel.

“So… Mikaelson?”

And there it goes. Hope gets ready for a bunch of questions. Mikaelson like in Mikaelson Industries? Why are you working as a teacher? Why aren’t you running your dad’s company? Why didn’t you tell me you were a Mikaelson? Because that’s what happens every time. People are nosy, and Hope hates it. It’s one of the many reasons why she doesn’t like to meet new people, why she only has a limited number of friends. Because they know why she works as a teacher, why she’s not running her dad’s company. People tend to reduce her on a last name, and that’s why she never uses it. When she was a little younger, she did, simply because her name has a certain impact on people, and it would often result in people treating her differently. But it didn’t take her long to realize that some people were also trying to take advantage of it, of knowing her, of getting close to her. 

“Didn’t you say Josie and Lizzie are your sisters?”, the question catches her off guard, “but their name is Saltzman.”

Hope eyes her, not used to people not jumping on the Niklaus Mikaelson train, “uhm –“, she needs a second to sort out her thoughts, “Alaric and Caroline took me in when my parents had their accident”, she explains, expecting that Penelope knows about what happened to the Mikaelsons.

“I’m sorry”, Penelope says, but it’s different from all the other ‘sorry’s she heard since the accident happened. It feels genuine. Not like a simple phrase people are just used to say when someone talks about their dead parents. She looks at Penelope with curious eyes, and for once it’s not about her parents and the accident, it’s about her. A lopsided smile is forming on Penelope’s lips, “so you are sisters at heart.” And again, it feels weird that she doesn’t even scratches at the Mikaelson topic. She simply ignores the impact Hope’s name has, and Hope feels herself relaxing a little bit. She nods.

“What about you? Do you have siblings?”, Hope asks while she sits down on the large couch in front of the fireplace. Her way of showing the other girl that she doesn’t want to end the conversation just yet. Penelope sits down next to her, and for a second Hope sees something flicker across her face. It’s something she knows all too well. It’s a mix of sorrow and nostalgia, something deep, something depressing, something that feels good and bad at the same time.

“An older sister.”

It’s all she says, and Hope knows that it’s not the time, nor the place to dive deeper into the thing she just saw in Penelope’s eyes.

A few minutes pass until Hope breaks through the silence again, “so, did Alaric offer you a room on campus?”

She doesn’t know why she sounds so excited.

“He did,” Penelope smiles, “but no, I’m not made for living on campus. I love me a break from time to time.”

“Sounds like this is not your first boarding school experience?”, Hope lifts a brow, tilting her head and Penelope chuckles, “no it’s not. I was a teaching assistant at a boarding school in Belgium. After a year I quit.”

“Oh, wow”, Hope scoots a little closer without noticing it, “how was that like?”

“It was great… but it wasn’t for me”, Penelope answers and the next few minutes Hope spends listening to Penelope telling her all about the boarding school in Belgium and that she loves teaching, and children but needs time for herself in the evenings. And Hope totally gets her, because campus life can be busy and hectic and too much sometimes. It’s not only the students but also the other teachers. She sighs, throws in a remark here and there, asking some short questions, and Penelope answers all of them without any hesitation.

An hour passes and Hope realizes how easy it is to get lost in Penelope’s eyes, in her voice, in the way she talks, the way she moves her hands while explaining something, her smile. She slightly shakes her head, narrowing her eyes, wondering about herself. About the effect Penelope has on her. It scares her because after all she doesn’t really know anything about her.

Penelope laughs about something she’d said, one of her own jokes, and absentmindedly places her hand on Hope’s thigh. Not because she wants to make Hope uncomfortable, but because Hope suddenly sits so close to her, that it is within reach. Hope’s body tenses up immediately and her eyes dart at the touch. Penelope quickly senses the discomfort she caused and pulls away her hand. Strangely enough Hope can’t pull her eyes away from the spot on her thigh and feels the urge to place Penelope’s hand back on it. Knowing what the other woman’s touch can make her feel.

“Hope”, Penelope’s voice sounds concerned, “we don’t need to talk about what happened the other nights if you don’t want to.”

And it’s not even that. Hope doesn’t want to talk about it, but not because it makes her uncomfortable, but because she wants to feel it again. She wants to feel touched and kissed and pushed against a wall, she wants Penelope to gently bite her skin, to dig her nails into her back, to moan her name. And not only _talk_ about it.

She blushes, as soon as she realizes that she is staring at Penelope, chewing on her bottom lip. Her body tenses up again, but she doesn’t know why. Maybe because Lizzie is standing in the doorframe, suspiciously watching them, maybe because she thinks of Landon suddenly, maybe because she didn’t think about him sooner, or maybe simply because the touch of Penelope’s hand felt good and natural and maybe she was just taken aback by it. Not because it was Penelope, but because she misses the feeling of being intimate. Landon had left weeks ago, and she misses the physical contact sometimes. And it’s weird and scary how a simple innocent touch could affect her.

Lizzie approaches them, her arms are crossed over her chest, “did you forget about me?”, she asks, glaring at Hope.

“Shoot, I totally forgot”, Hope jumps off the sofa. Lizzie is still giving her a scolding look and she feels guilty about forgetting that they were supposed to meet for lunch. She wants to apologize and to tell her about why she forgot, but Lizzie is already staring at Penelope. She scans her from head to toe, “and what are _you_ doing here?”

Hope is about to answer, because then she can also tell her why she didn’t show up during lunchbreak, but Penelope is already standing next to her. A smug smirk on her lips before she bites her bottom lip, “I’m the new biology teacher.”

“Great”, is all Lizzie mumbles as an answer, and Hope wonders why Lizzie is so anti-Penelope. She doesn’t know her and immediately Hope is taken back to the evening one week ago. Maybe Penelope had said something or done something unintentionally. Lizzie could be a little difficult sometimes, and once a person was on her bad side, it was hard for them to change that again.

A moment of silence passes. Hope watches Penelope challenging Lizzie with her grin and Lizzie glaring back at her with narrowed eyes. She wants to say something, something to cut through the thick air hanging between them, but she doesn’t know what to say. When Josie suddenly shows up next to her twin, Hope immediately beams her a thankful smile. Josie suspiciously eyes her, before she turns her head to Penelope, “you made it.”

“Thanks again for the tip”, Penelope smiles, finally disconnecting her eyes from Lizzie, who is now eying her sister with a confused expression on her face. And then there is this weird twin-thing again. Josie knows exactly what Lizzie is thinking without even looking at her, and Hope can almost see the thoughts coming out of Lizzie’s head and going right into Josie’s. The brunette places a calming hand on her sister’s arm, “I told her that dad was looking for someone who could replace Landon”, she answers her sister’s unspoken question. Lizzie continues frowning. “What?”, Josie asks her. The blonde doesn’t answer and simply continues transferring her thoughts into her sister’s brain.

“What’s happening?”, Penelope whispers, leaning in closer to Hope, also seeing that there is an entire non-verbal conversation going on in front of them.

Hope chuckles, “twin bonding.”

“Twins?”

Lizzie flinches by the volume of Penelope’s voice and gives her another one of her scolding looks, “fraternal”, is all she manages to say.

“Obviously”, Penelope mumbles, rolling her eyes. And Hope can’t suppress the chuckle escaping her lips. Usually, people get either annoyed by Lizzie the minute they met her, or they fall head over heels for her. But with Penelope it’s different, she can’t put her in either of the two groups. She seems to be annoyed a little bit at least, but not as much as other people usually are. She is challenging her, provoking even, and it’s funny. Finally, someone who seems to be willing to put up with Lizzie’s bullshit.

“Did Hope show you around already?”, Josie’s voice breaks through the silence and Penelope nods.

**Author's Note:**

> Kind reminder that English isn't my first language, so please excuse me for any spelling or grammar mistakes. I gladly take any advice and constructive criticism. :-)


End file.
